Odor Eliminating Apparatus for Toilets With Integral Sound Effect Generator

ABSTRACT

An odor eliminating apparatus for eliminating odorous compounds from a toilet bowl includes a housing with an extension disposed inside the bowl above the headspace of the water. A fan establishes an air flow through the housing to exhaust gases from the bowl. A filter eliminates the odorous compounds and optionally refreshes the air. The apparatus may be portable so that it can be installed onto and removed from the bowl as desired. Speakers in the housing are used to play audio clips when a person is detected.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation in part to application Ser. No.13/863,723 filed Apr. 16, 2013 which in turn claims priority to U.S.Provisional application Ser. No. 61/635,002 filed Apr. 18, 2012 andincorporated herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

a. Field of Invention

The present application relates generally to an odor-eliminatingapparatus. More specifically, the invention involves an exhaust systemthat attaches to a standard toilet bowl to eliminate or filter odorstherefrom. The odor-eliminating apparatus includes a housing constructedso that it can be readily attached to and removed from a standard toiletbowl, and also includes an exhaust system having an air filter and anexhaust fan and is arranged to exhaust gases from the bowl.Advantageously, the device further includes an integral sound generatorthat selectively generates various sound effects.

b. Background of the Invention

The odor eliminating industry is full of fragrant sprays, candles, anddiffusers, all primarily relying on some scent for masking bad odors.Newer products have also been introduced that attempt to go beyondmasking odors and effectively eliminating them by using compounds thatbind to odor receptors and are then easily separated. However, theseproducts are used only after the odor has already settled in specificareas and therefore are quite ineffective, especially in places liketoilets.

Other products for odor elimination include exhaust fans that areutilized to push air out of a room through a wall or ceiling opening.However, exhaust fans do not eliminate odor at the source. Instead, theodors dissipate throughout a room or other open space first beforereaching the exhaust fan and persons within the room or space arealready exposed to these odors. Thus, at best, exhaust fans aresuccessful in merely reducing the concentration of odor producingparticles in a room and are incapable of eliminating such particles attheir source, i.e., before one or more persons in a room are exposed tothem. Furthermore, exhaust fans require permanent installation includingexpensive and labor intensive duct work, mounting hardware for mountingthe fan to the duct work and hardwired power lines.

In addition, devices that play music and/or other sound effects areoften provided in bathrooms for generating a soothing, friendly,peaceful atmosphere therein. Of course, such devices require both powerand a source for the music or sound effect and switching means forselectively switching or activating such devices.

Thus, there is a need for an odor-eliminating apparatus for toilets andthe like that eliminates odor at the source, without chemical sprays,allowing for a true odor-free environment in a bathroom or otherenclosure. There is also a need for such an apparatus that is furtherable to provide music or other sound effects that is automaticallytriggered as desired, for example when a person approaches the toilet.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An apparatus for removing odorous gases from a toilet bowl includes ahousing that saddles the bowl and can be easily removed from it. Thehousing includes an extension forming an air intake with an inlet portdisposed in the headspace within the bowl. A fan within the housingevacuates odorous gases from the headspace to the outside through thehousing. The fan is triggered by a proximity switch and stays on aftereach use. Lights on the housing indicate when the apparatus isoperational (preferably by illuminating the bowl), or when its batteryis depleted. Optionally, some lights may generate WV light fordisinfecting the bowl as they illuminate the interior of the bowl.

In accordance with this invention, a sound source is also provided thatplays at selective times various audio clips, including music, soundeffects, spoken words, etc.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above-described and other advantages and features of the presentdisclosure will be appreciated and understood by those skilled in theart from the following detailed description and drawings of which

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a toilet with a portable odoreliminating apparatus constructed in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational cross-sectional view of the odoreliminating apparatus of FIG. 1 taken along line 2-2 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a side cross-sectional view of the odor eliminatingapparatus taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 shows an elevational view of the odor eliminating apparatus takenalong the line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 shows an exploded view of the odor eliminating apparatus;

FIG. 5A shows a bottom view of the cassette 96 used in the apparatus ofFIGS. 1-5;

FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of the toilet of FIG. 1 with the seatlowered over the odor eliminating apparatus;

FIG. 7 shows a side sectional view of the odor eliminating apparatus inuse taken along the line 7-7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 shows an end cross sectional view of the odor eliminatingapparatus indicating gas flow at the inlet thereof taken along the line8-8 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 shows a block diagram of the electrical elements of the odoreliminating apparatus;

FIG. 10 shows an elevational view of a toilet bowl and a potential userapproaching the toilet bowl;

FIG. 11 shows a flow chart of the normal operation of the odoreliminating apparatus of FIGS. 1-10 toilet bowl; and

FIG. 12 shows a flow chart for downloading and playing a sound clip froma user.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring first to FIG. 1, a typical toilet 10 includes a bowl 12, aseat 14 that is pivotable between an upright position shown in thisfigure and a lowered position shown in FIG. 6, and a water tank 16. Thebowl 12 includes a lip 18 including a horizontal lip surface 20 that isgenerally ring shaped and is formed between an outer wall 22 and aninner wall 24. The inner and outer walls 24, 22 are generally vertical.The toilet bowl 12 is normally partially filled with water having anupper water surface 26, with a headspace 28 formed within the toiletbowl 12 and above the water surface 26. During or immediately after useof the toilet 10, this headspace is filled with odorous gases and,therefore, in accordance with this invention, an odor eliminatingapparatus 30 is provided for eliminating these odorous gases. As clearlyseen already in FIG. 1, the apparatus 30 is mounted over, or saddles thelip 18. It is obvious to one skilled in the art that the illustratedtoilet 10 is typical of those devices, and that the present apparatusmay be used with almost any toilet or any similar bowl-shaped device ofsimilar function.

Referring now to FIGS. 2-5, apparatus 30 includes a housing 32 shapedand sized to form a gas intake 34 that sits on top of the lip 18 and agenerally spherical external portion 60 disposed laterally outside thetoilet bowl 12. The gas intake 34 is generally L-shaped around the lip18 and it includes a horizontal length or portion 36 having a topsurface 37, a bottom surface 39 and a downward vertical extension 38extending into the headspace 28 toward the water surface 26. When theapparatus 30 is installed in the toilet bowl 12, horizontal portion 36is positioned so that it extends above and rests upon the horizontal lipsurface 20. The vertical extension 38 includes an outer wall 46, aninner wall 47 and is disposed along, and desirably comes in contact withinner wall 24 as seen in FIG. 2 and FIG. 7. Vertical extension 38 endswith an enlarged rib 40 disposed below the lower edge of wall 24 andextends radially outwardly from the headspace 28 to hook under the lip18. Desirably, with said configuration, the horizontal portion 36 andthe vertical portion 38 clip snugly over the lip 18.

Optionally, the gas intake 34 or at least its extension 38 maybeslightly flexible so that as the apparatus 30 is inserted over the lip18, the rib 40 rides along wall 24 and then, when the apparatus 30 isfully seated on the toilet bowl, the rib 40 snaps outwardly so that thelip 18 is trapped between the extension 38 and wall 64, the latter beingdescribed in more detail below. This structure insures that theapparatus 30 is firmly seated on the toilet bowl 12 and does not falloff inadvertently.

Extension 38 further includes an outer protrusion 54 on wall 46. Aplurality of LEDs 48 are arranged in a row on protrusion 54 as shown.The extension 38 and horizontal portion 36 define a generally L-shapedgas passageway 50. The passageway 50 is formed with an inlet port 52opening into headspace 28 and generally disposed at an angle of 45degrees as shown. Preferably the inlet port 52 is several inches (e.g.,1-3″) below the horizontal surface 20 to exhaust the headspace in thetoilet bowl quickly and efficiently.

Preferably the outer wall 46 is formed with rib 54 having a triangularcross section. The LEDs 48 are disposed on this rib 54 facing generallydownward at an angle of about 45° so that they do not shine into aperson's eyes. In one embodiment, LEDs 48 provide mostly illumination.In another embodiment, they produce UV or other radiation selected tosanitize the toilet bowl and its contents and headspace. Such LED's arewell-known in the art

The external portion 60 of the apparatus 30 is positioned so that it iscovered by a segment 62 of top surface 37. Segment 62 supports aproximity sensor 68 and an indication light 70, that may be an LED. Thefunction and operation of the sensor 68 and light 70, are discussedbelow.

Portion 60 further includes a vertical inner wall 64 that can abut thevertical outer surface 22 of the toilet bowl 18, and an outer wall 66that is generally hemispherical in shape.

The walls 64, 66 cooperate to define a cavity 80. This cavity 80 ispartitioned by internal walls into several chambers aligned verticallyon top of each other. Starting from the top, the first chamber is theupper chamber 82. This cavity forms a plenum receiving odorous gasesthrough gas passageway 50. Under the upper chamber 82 is a fan chamber84 receiving a fan 86 of conventional construction. Laterally adjacentto chambers 82, 84 is a battery chamber 88 receiving one or morebatteries 90. In one embodiment of the invention, wall 64 is providedwith a removable segment 65 that covers the battery chamber. Wall 64 isattached to wall 66 by screws 67. Once the walls 64, 66, a user canaccess to the battery chamber 88 by removing segment 65, for example, toreplace the battery (ies) 90

Under the fan chamber 84 there is a filter chamber 92. This filterchamber 92 has a generally rectangular opening 94. A cassette 96 (seeFIG. 5) can be inserted through the opening 94 into chamber 92. Thecassette 96 desirably holds two filters 98, 100. Filter 98 is apreferably a carbon filter designed to absorb and neutralize odorouscomponents. Filter 100 is impregnated with a deodorizing compound fordeodorizing or refreshing the gases passing therethrough. Filter 100could be scented with a fragrance as well, provided in the form of agel. In one alternate embodiment, instead of a holding a gel, a solidblock made of a plastic material is used, said plastic material beingimpregnated with a fragrance. It has been found that such a material isable to provide a fragrance for a longer time period than gels. Thecassette 96 may be made available separately to the users so that theusers can change them at will, for example, every two weeks, byinserting them into or withdrawing them from the apparatus 30.

FIG. 5A shows a bottom view of the cassette 96. It includes a a cassettebody 160 with a bottom surface 162 formed with perforations 164. Theseperforations allow the gases to flow through after being scrubbed by thefilters. A portion 166 is curved to match the curvature of the body 60and a depression is formed adjacent to the portion 166 to allow a personto grasp the cassette 96 and pull it out. A similar depression 170 isformed in the body 60 to allow a person to insert a finger below thecassette 96 and pull the cassette out of chamber 92,

Under the filter chamber 92 there is a curved exhaust chamber 102. Thisexhaust chamber is formed with a plurality of round holes 104 in theouter wall 68. Generally the holes 104 are oriented in a downwarddirection as shown. One or more ribs 106 are provided on the outer wall68 to create an esthetically pleasing design.

Preferably, as seen in FIG. 5, the apparatus 30 cam be made of threepieces 110, 112, 114, that can be made of a plastic material by moldingor other similar operation, and then joined by screws, or other knownmeans, as is generally known in the component-assembly art. Piece 110forms a shell for the cavity 80. Piece 112 forms a top surface 37 andouter wall 46 of the gas intake 34. Piece 114 is generally U-shaped andit includes the inner wall 64 oriented vertically that closes off thecavity 80, bottom wall 39 of portion 36 and inner wall 47 of extension38. When the parts 110, 112, 114 are assembled, the walls 39, 37 and 46,47 define the passageway 50.

FIG. 9 shows a control circuit 120 for the apparatus 30. The circuit ispowered by the battery 90 and includes conventional components, such asvoltage regulators and the like which have been omitted for the sake ofclarity. The control circuit 120 is provided on a printed circuit board(not shown) mounted under the proximity sensor 68 or any otherconvenient location.

Circuit 120 includes a controller 122 implemented by any conventionalmicroprocessor. The controller receives an input from the proximitysensor 68. Preferably the proximity sensor is passive infrared sensor,such as a Panasonic EKMB-1201112.

The controller 122 selectively activates the fan 86 via an electronicswitch 126. The fan 86 is rated at 13 CFM and at 3.5 VDC, it turns atabout 4700 RPM.

As previously mentioned above, the LEDs 48 may be regular light sourcesgenerating light for illumination. Alternatively, some or all of themmay be UV LEDs provided for disinfecting the headspace 28. In oneembodiment, the LEDs are operated in the same manner whether they areregular light sources or provide a disinfecting function. In anotherembodiment, illuminating LEDs 48A and the UV LEDs 48B are operateddifferent, as described in more detail below. In FIG. 4, any of the LEDs48 can be either illuminating LEDs 48A or UV LEDs 48B. In any event, allof them are selectively activated and deactivated by controller 122, asis the indicator LED 70.

The circuit 120 further includes sound clip library 130. One or moresounds clips from this library are selectively provided to a DAC 132,which converts them to analog sounds. The analog sounds are provided toa driver 134 which then sends them to speakers 134, 136 for replay. Thesound clips are either played in a predetermined series or randomly, asdetermined by the manufacturer. Alternatively they may be selected by auser. For example, the device 30 can be provided with a small display140 preferably disposed on the housing of device 30 together with aselector switch 142. The user can review the titles of the sound clipsin memory 130 on display 140 and select one or more clips for replay onthe speakers 136, 138 using selector 142.

The sound clips in library 130 could be musical selections, spokencontent and/or sound effects.

The speakers 136, 138 are also provided on the housing of the device 30.For example they can be mounted on wall 66 as shown in FIG. 5.

In one embodiment of the invention, the circuit 120 is further providedwith an external transceiver 144 through which the device 30 may beprovided with audio clips that are either stored in library 130 orplayed in real time. The external transceiver 144 may be compatible withvarious wireless protocols such as Bluetooth, NFC, etc.

The apparatus 30 is constructed and arranged to be mounted under theseat 14. In this position, the apparatus 30 is secured laterally on thelip 18 of toilet bowl 12 as shown in FIG. 6.

The operation of the device 30 is now described in conjunction with thedrawing of FIG. 10 and the flow charts of FIGS. 11 and 12.

Initially, the device 30 is dormant and the indicator light 70, LEDs 48A48B and the fan 86 are all off (step 200 in FIG. 11).

When a person comes close to the toilet 10, as shown in FIG. 10, his orher presence is sensed by the proximity sensor 68 and an appropriatesignal is sent to the controller 122. More specifically, the sensor 68is arranged and directed to sense a person seating on the seat 14 (asshown in FIG. 7) as well as a person standing in front of the toilette,as shown in FIG. 10.

The controller 122 checks the output of the sensor 68 at regularintervals (steps 202, 204). When the sensor 68 indicates that a personhas been sensed (step 204), the controller 122 turns switch 126 onthereby activating the fan 86 (step 206). In addition, the controller122 also activates LEDs 48A, to illuminate the bowl and indicate thatthe apparatus 30 started exhausting the headspace in the toilet (step208). Optionally, instead of, or in addition to LEDs 48A, the controller122 can activate UV LEDs 48B thereby causing the latter to disinfect thehead space 28 (step 210).

The fan 86 causes odorous gases from the head space 28 in the toiletbowl 12 to be evacuated through inlet port 52. From this port, the gasesflow through channel 50 into the upper chamber 82. From the chamber 82the gases flow past the fan 86, through the filters 98, 100. Filter 98removes noxious odors and filter 100 deodorizes the gases. From thefilters, the gases flow into chamber 102 and are pushed out into theatmosphere through holes 104, as illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8. In thismanner, the fan 86 establishes an air flow from the inlet port 52 to theair exhaust defined by the holes 104.

As the fan 70 is turned on, the controller 122 also checks if there areany audio (including any sound or music) clips that have been designatedto be played (step 212).

If such an audio clip is designated, in step 214, the clip is retrievedfrom library 130 and played through speakers 134, 136 (step 214).

Meanwhile, the device 30 continues to operate its fan and continue tomonitor sensor 68 until the person is no longer detected (steps 216,218).

Then, LEDs 48A are turned off (step 220) and the speakers aredeactivated (step 222). However, preferably, even after the sensor 68 nolonger detects a person in the vicinity of apparatus 30, the controller122 maintains fan 86 on for about 15-120 seconds (step 224) (this is avariable duration that may be set by the manufacturer). In one preferredembodiment, the fan stays on 30 seconds after a user leaves. In oneembodiment, the UV LEDs 48B are turned off at the same time as the fan86 (step 226). After the preset duration, the controller 122 goes backto the dormant state (step 200) until a person is detected again.

The controller 122 also monitors the state of the battery 90. If thecontroller determines that the battery 90 is getting depleted, thecontroller 122 activates light 70 to indicate to the user that areplacement battery is needed. The light 70 stays on (or blinkscontinuously) until the battery is replaced. In one embodiment, thebattery 90 is checked after every time the toilet is used. In oneembodiment, the light 70 (or a different light) is turned on to indicatethat the filters may need to be changed.

Many persons nowadays carry portable devices such as mobile telephones,personal music players, etc., that include audio clips and these personsmay want to hear their own clips rather than what is in the library 130.Therefore in one embodiment, the controller 122 operates as shown inFIG. 12. In step 250 a person is detected adjacent to toilet 12 who hasan external device such as a personal audio player device 150. (Step 250corresponds to steps 202, 204 in FIG. 11). In step 252 an attempt ismade to communicate with device 150 through transceiver 144. Forexample, this attempt may be made using a Bluetooth or NFC protocol. Instep 254 a check is performed to determine if communications have beenestablished with device 150. If no communication is established, thisphase of operation is terminated (step 256).

If communication is established, a check is performed to determine ifthere are any audio clips available or have been designated to bereplayed by device 30 (step 258). Again, if no such audio clip is found,the process is terminated in step 256. If an audio clip is found in step258 then it is retrieved in step 260 either in a batch or stream formand the audio clip is played (step 262). Otherwise, the controller 122follows the process described above and shown in FIG. 11.

The accompanying drawings only illustrate a portable odor-eliminatingapparatus, its constituent parts, and method of use. However, othertypes and styles are possible, and the drawings are not intended to belimiting in that regard. Thus, although the description above andaccompanying drawings contains much specificity, the details providedshould not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiment(s) butmerely as providing illustrations of some of the presently preferredembodiment(s). The drawings and the description are not to be taken asrestrictive on the scope of the embodiment(s) and are understood asbroad and general teachings in accordance with the present invention.While the present embodiment(s) of the invention have been describedusing specific terms, such description is for present illustrativepurposes only, and it is to be understood that modifications andvariations to such embodiments, including but not limited to thesubstitutions of equivalent features, materials, or parts, and thereversal of various features thereof, may be practiced by those ofordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention.

I claim:
 1. An odor eliminating apparatus arranged to eliminate gasesaccumulated above a water level in a toilet bowl with a circumferentiallip having a horizontal lip surface, said apparatus comprising: ahousing having a gas intake including a horizontal portion extendingacross said lip surface and an extension having an air inlet below thelip surface and arranged and constructed to collect gases in theheadspace of water in the toilet bowl, said housing further including amain chamber with an air exhaust; a fan disposed in said main chamberand arranged to establish an air flow between said air inlet and saidair exhaust; a filter in the housing disposed in said air flow; speakersreceiving selectively audio clips and playing said audio clips; and aswitch sensing the presence of a person in a vicinity and, in response,activating.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein filter includes anactive filter element arranged to remove odor-producing components fromsaid head space.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said active filteris a carbon filter.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said filterincludes a deodorizing element.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein saidscent filter element includes a gel selectively releasing scentedparticles.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said housing is arrangedand construction for selective attachment to and removal from said lip.7. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a control elementselectively activating said fan, said control element being disposed insaid housing and connected to said switch.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7wherein said control element includes a microprocessor selectivelyactivated by said switch.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein saidmicroprocessor maintains said fan on for a predetermined time after eachuse.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said switch is a proximitysensor.
 11. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising an operationallight disposed on said housing and indicating that said apparatus isoperational, said light being activated when said switch detects theperson.
 12. The apparatus of claim 8 further including a battery forproviding power to the fan.
 13. A toilet assembly comprising: a toiletbowl having a bowl outer wall and a toilet bowl lip with a horizontallip surface, a toilet seat disposed above said horizontal lip surface,said toilet bowl being arranged and constructed to hold water withheadspace disposed above said water; an apparatus attached to saidtoilet bowl and including a gas intake disposed inside said bowl, an airexhaust disposed outside said bowl adjacent to said bowl outer wall anda fan arranged to establish an air flow between said air intake and saidair exhaust to remove odorous compounds from said head space; andspeakers associated with said apparatus and playing sound clips whensaid fan is activated.
 14. The assembly of claim 13 wherein saidapparatus includes a device housing having a horizontal portion disposedbetween said toilet seat and said bowl lip, an extension extendingdownwardly from said lip toward said water and including at least onedownwardly oriented opening forming said air inlet and a main chamberwith said fan.
 15. The assembly of claim 13 further comprising a filterdisposed in said air flow and adapted to remove said odorous compounds.16. The assembly of claim 13 further comprising a controller operatingsaid fan.
 17. The assembly of claim 16 wherein said controller includesa proximity switch disposed on said housing laterally adjacent to saidseat.
 18. The assembly of claim 15 further comprising a light disposedon said housing and oriented to illuminate the bowl.
 19. The assembly ofclaim 13 further comprising a light disposed on said housing andoriented to disinfect the bowl.
 20. An odor eliminating apparatusarranged to eliminate gases accumulated above a water level in a toiletbowl with a circumferential lip having a horizontal lip surface, saidapparatus comprising: a first piece defining an open cavity, a secondpiece having an L-shape with a first horizontal wall and a firstvertical wall; and a third piece having a second and a third verticalwall and a second horizontal wall, said three pieces when assembledforming: a housing having a gas intake including a horizontal portionextending across said lip surface and an extension having an air inletbelow the lip surface and arranged and constructed to collect gases inthe headspace of water in the toilet bowl, said housing furtherincluding a main cavity with an air exhaust; said horizontal portionbeing defined by said first and second horizontal walls and saidextension being defined by said second and third vertical walls, andsaid main cavity being formed by said first piece and said firstvertical wall; a fan disposed in said main chamber and arranged toestablish an air flow between said air inlet and said air exhaust; and afilter in the housing disposed in said air flow.
 21. The apparatus ofclaim 20 wherein said pieces further define a battery housing receivinga battery for powering said fan.
 22. The apparatus of claim 21 whereinsaid battery housing is formed with a battery opening through which thebattery is replaced.